Avs take Game 2, 6-3

In Denver, Nathan MacKinnon potted a hat trick and the Colorado Avalanche doubled-up the St Louis Blues, 6-3, on Wednesday night.

The win gives the Avs a 2-0 series lead heading to St Louis for a Friday night tilt in Game 3.

“I don’t know if I’m at another level or pucks are (just) going in right now, I guess,” MacKinnon said. “I mean, all my goals are with great screens in front. [Gabriel Landeskog], Mikko [Rantanen] are beasts down low.

“Without those guys battling and mucking it up in front when I’m up high, those pucks don’t go in. Everyone’s helping out, for sure.”

Philipp Grubauer made 32 saves in the victory.

“You have to have guys elevating their game this time of year,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “You have to have different guys chipping in and making plays, not just on the offensive side of it, but on the defensive side of it as well. Guys are feeling good with their game.”

Joonas Donskoi scored twice for Colorado.

After the Avs took a 3-0 lead, the Blues cut it to a one-goal deficit off goals from Sammy Blais and Brayden Schenn.

The Blues lost Justin Faulk and Tyler Bozak to injury.

“The League will look at those hits, and they’ll do what they have to do,” Blues head coach Craig Berube said. “You’re down to four D, and that’s in a playoff game. That’s difficult, but I thought guys did a good job.”

MacKinnon cut the rally off with a goal to make it 4-2, before Mike Hoffman  got the Blues back within one.

“I won’t say patient, but we’ve got to understand that we have to play a certain way against this team and we can’t wait until the second period to do it,” Berube said. “Pucks got to go in deep, they got to go 200 feet, we’ve got to be a good forecheck team and then we’ve got to shoot pucks. I thought we passed up shots again in the first period, and then we allow them to come out of their zone way too easy and they get these rush attacks against us and they get opportunities off of it.”

Brandon Saad added a single marker (empty net)  in the Avs win.

Jordan Binnington made 28 saves in the loss.

“When we do things the right way and dictate, and get on these guys, you can see we generate and we make it difficult on them, so it’s definitely something that we have to build off of and we’re going home and we’re going to get back in the series,” the Blues’ Ryan O’Reilly said.